Best way to cut and re-assemble interior tubs?

[charlie8575]

So, I have a couple of possible projects coming up, and in order to do them the way I'd like, I'll have to cut up the interior tubs from early-era kits that have seats and everything moulded into the tub.

What have people found is the best way to cut off the door/rear panels, particularly at the back seat, where getting a razor saw, even one of the small ones in an Excel/X-Acto handle is going to be quite difficult, at best?

What have you found is the best way to re-assemble things? I was thinking of gluing a small piece of L-channel along the ends and perhaps the bottom, clearances permitting.

Thoughts?

Charlie Larkin

[Jon Haigwood]

I normally use the back side of an exacto knife blade for cutting. And when assembling I use .02" sheet plastic as a backing.  

[Plowboy]

I use a photo etch saw blade in an Xacto handle. I start with a course blade to get the line established. Then finish cutting with a fine blade. The fine blade seems to have a little set in it and won't bind like the course blades do. Since the material removal is minimal, I just glue it back together and hit the backside with superglue.

[StevenGuthmiller]

This question can be difficult to answer because as with most everything, each one is a little different.

Most of the time I just hack them up with a Dremel tool because in most cases, there's not a lot I want to save anyway.

Very often, I wind up scratch building or replacing a good portion of the parts anyway, so The only things that I generally worry about keeping intact are the seat upholstery patterns, and as much of the door panel pattern as possible.

In the case of an interior with the front seats molded in, there is very likely going to be some considerable reconstruction necessary because the seat is usually at least partially molded right into the door panel.

This is going to require reworking the sides of the seats, and at least part of the door panel.

I can only speak for myself, but another aspect to consider with the door panels is the removal of the convertible top mechanism wells if you're building a hard top.

I don't see much point in cutting apart an interior for better detailing if these are going to be left intact, and if you are going to remove them, there will likely be some considerable modifications to the door panel involved.

 

Re-assembly methods can depend a lot on the modifications that you are doing as well.

I have reassembled with pins, cleats and just gluing the side panels back onto the sides of the floor.

 

With all of that said, just get in there and have fun!

Once you get started on blowing apart these old interiors and reworking them, it's very hard to go back to using them the way they came from the kit.

I enjoy this process a great deal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Mark]

Additional work that can be done while the interior is apart includes standing the side panels up straight, eliminating the "draft" or top-to-bottom taper that one-piece buckets have.  Doing that makes the assembled interior look deeper.  

Another bit of work to add to the pile, is to lower the floor if possible.  Some of those old interior buckets are shallow, leaving the floor higher up than it should be.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

Additional work that can be done while the interior is apart includes standing the side panels up straight, eliminating the "draft" or top-to-bottom taper that one-piece buckets have.  Doing that makes the assembled interior look deeper.  

Another bit of work to add to the pile, is to lower the floor if possible.  Some of those old interior buckets are shallow, leaving the floor higher up than it should be.

Very true.

Just remember that every modification, like those mentioned above, is likely to require more modification in other areas in order for everything to fit correctly.

as examples, deepening the floor is most likely to require further door panel mods, and standing the door panels up straight will very likely require that the dash be widened to fit.

Just things that need to be considered when these kinds of changes are being made.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Mark]

On the interiors that I spread the sides out on, generally the instrument panel will only need a sliver of material added at the lower end of the mounting tabs.  The side panels don't spread out at the very top at all, so that the interior still fits into the body.  The bottom of the side panel coming a bit further out doesn't affect the instrument panel fit very much.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

On the interiors that I spread the sides out on, generally the instrument panel will only need a sliver of material added at the lower end of the mounting tabs.  The side panels don't spread out at the very top at all, so that the interior still fits into the body.  The bottom of the side panel coming a bit further out doesn't affect the instrument panel fit very much.

It depends on the interior.

On my most recent ‘68 Coronet project, there was a considerable taper on the lower part of the dash. 
While it wouldn’t have affected the fit very much, it would have been aesthetically unappealing.

Luckily in this particular instance, the dash from a different kit proved to be a better option anyway, so I was able to avoid monkeying with it.

Anyway, my only point was that very often, modifications can demand further modifications in other areas and to just be aware of what you might be diving into.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Tom Geiger]

35 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Anyway, my only point was that very often, modifications can demand further modifications in other areas and to just be aware of what you might be diving into

Oh yea!  One thing leads to another!

[Bucky]

Mr. Guthmiller mentioned removing the convertible top wells from the side panels if one is building a hardtop. Keep in mind that it might mean reworking the rear seat would be a necessary mod to perform on order to match up with that side panel mod.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

Mr. Guthmiller mentioned removing the convertible top wells from the side panels if one is building a hardtop. Keep in mind that it might mean reworking the rear seat would be a necessary mod to perform on order to match up with that side panel mod.

Very likely.

The seat would likely need to be widened.

Another prime example of how these kinds of mods can snowball.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Foghorn Leghorn]

On 6/30/2021 at 1:01 AM, charlie8575 said:

What have people found is the best way to cut off the door/rear panels, particularly at the back seat,

That's where the steady hand and the hot knife, from the hidden side, does the job. Careful planning gives the best results. I usually mark the cut lines in pencil then hot knife until nearly breaking thru. When you get close enough you can break it apart with fingers.

For the ones where the front and rear seats are molded in, i use 2 to make one. But i never butcher 2 good ones. One has to have issues like squirrels, portable tv sets, and seatbelts welded to the seats.

 

[TransAmMike]

I cut these on '55 Chevy P/U interior tub. Just took #11 scapel (I use them instead of hobby knife.  I basically just scribed the crease with the blade point and kept of running it along the scribe until it went right on thru.  Piece of cake?